Exercises to increase your focus
Our days can get quite busy and are often interrupted with multiple distractions. This makes it easy to feel overwhelmed regularly. When you're feeling overwhelmed, it's not easy to move yourself to a better mental space without knowing how to do so.
Therefore, learning to deal with overstimulation and anxiety is a skill you can learn and implement.
You can quickly get yourself back on track from any negative emotional state with enough practice.
It is all about knowing how to ground yourself under any circumstances!
These are exercises (strategies) that can help you to get started:
Focus on your breath.
Find a quiet spot and take 3 - 5 deep breaths.
Feel the air go in and out of your body. Only think about one thing at a time. Therefore, if your attention is on your breath, it can't be on whatever is making you feel overwhelmed.
Use this exercise throughout your day as often as you need it to get you back in the flow and less stressed.
Call a trusted friend or accountability partner.
One of the best ways to deal with feeling overwhelmed is reaching out to a friend for a chat. Don't call that friend that always seems to complain about everything. Call an upbeat friend that knows how to motivate you and make you feel better.
The next exercise when feeling overwhelmed is to pick up an object.
The more interesting the object, the better it will work for this exercise.
Nearly anything will work:
A pen, paperweight, a stapler, or even a shoe are all fine.
Step 1: Hold the object in your hand and focus on the texture. Avoid looking at the object. Just feel it in your hand.
Step 2: Move the object around in your hand and imagine the shape of the object as you're holding it. Try to form a mental picture based on what you're feeling.
Step 3: Now describe the texture and shape to yourself.
Focus on your senses.
This is an exercise that help you to hone in on all of your senses.
- Take a look around your environment and describe five things you see. You can do this aloud if you like. Describe the physical appearance in detail for 10-15 seconds. Repeat this until you have described five items.
- Then, describe four things you feel. This can be an object in your vicinity. It can also be a physical sensation, such as the chair beneath you, the temperature of the air on your skin, or an itchy nose.
- Next, describe three things you can hear. You might have to close your eyes and really concentrate, but you can always find at least three sounds in your environment if you try.
- What are two things you can smell? Pick something up and smell it if necessary.
- What does your mouth taste like right now? Have a drink if necessary.
Distract yourself.
Distract yourself in a non-harmful way. Take a walk. Play a quick game on your mobile device. Read a few pages of a book. Dance around the room. Do whatever it takes without harming yourself.
- Avoid using food, drugs, alcohol, and tobacco as distractions. Also, be aware of how much time you're spending on your distractions.
Ideally, you'll use these centering techniques before your feeling of overwhelm reaches a high level. Ground and center yourself as soon as you feel your emotions starting to head south. Like a headache, it's easier to stop a moving train while it's still moving slowly.
Integrate these exercises and be patient with the process. This is a true skill. Focusing your attention on purpose isn't an easy skill to master, but it's well worth the time, effort, and energy.
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THE KEY PILLARS OF PRODUCTIVITY
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Have you ever felt like you were working really hard, but getting nowhere? You go to bed exhausted, wake up exhausted, but you don’t feel like you have anything to show for it. You know there has to be a better way, but you just don’t know where to start.
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